Beimel and Penny to be immortalized in ceramic

We will be sending out a press release shortly announcing that July 25 will be Brad Penny Bobblehead while the Fans Vote Bobblehead on Aug. 12 will be Joe Beimel.

I wanted to break the news here, as I know that there are many who believe that somehow we didn’t want Joe to get this bobblehead. For what it’s worth, I’m happy to say that from the very beginning when we saw how the voting process was going, I have been of the belief that we should be making a Beimel bobblehead. It was only due to a a joking comment in the clubhouse and an off-the-cuff text message that Joe sent to his buddy that this entire thing took a turn for the dramatic. As I’ve said all along, there are no conspiracies here and I’m sure that everyone in the soon-to-be sellout crowd that night will come to love their Beimel bobblehead as much as every other we’ve given away over the years.

Pierre is standing in the dugout clicking heels together and reciting; “There’s no place like starting, there’s no place like starting, there’s no place like starting……..”, hoping he can go back to 2003 in Florida.

mlk, You may be thinking of the actor Kurt Jurgens who always played a German WWII character, like the submarine commander against Robert Mitchum in a movie with a name I’ve forgotten. In any case, when it comes to Jurrjens turn, I hope we sink him too.

Italy for the semester– i had to go in the spring because i would miss too much baseball in the fall as well as too much football. Life is a juggling act… Go dodgers.. As has already been said, great lineup tonight. Cant wait to watch…

Anyone else notice that Russ has stopped wearing batting gloves? I noticed this Wednesday night on TV–Russ has a habit of putting down the bat, spitting into his hands, and rubbing them together between pitches. And I saw it Wednesday night, and there were no batting gloves. Was this recent? Some superstition? Something to try to get him going?

With Mark Texiera having come to bat, it reminded me about the boneheads at the Dallas Morning News–particulary Evan Grant–who kept flogging the idea of trading Loney for Texiera?
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Here is their line this season:
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Loney ($411,000 for 2008)- .364 BA, .406 OB%, .545 Slg%, 2 HR, 8 RBI
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2006 (98 Games) .331 BA, .381 OB% .538 Slg%, 15 HR, 67 RBI
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Texiera ($12.5M for 2008) – .203 BA, .288 OB%, .390 Slg%, 3 HR, 7 RBI
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2006 (132 games) .306 BA .400 OB% .563 Slg%, 30 HR, 105 RBI
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In other words, this would have been, at best, an even trade in terms of player quality, and the reality is that Loney and his 15-game hitting streak will probably be getting better, while Texiera has hit his stride. But, the cost difference to the club is $12 Million–or almost Rafael Furcal’s contract (or, the combined contracts of Martin, Kemp, Ethier, Billingsley, Broxton, Kuo, Saito, DeWitt, Young, Hu, and a bunch of other players).
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And remember the kicker–these morons were not pushing for a Loney for Texiera trade straight-up. Here is what Evan Grant actually wrote:
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“The Dodgers would likely have to part with first baseman James Loney, an outfielder such as Andre Ethier and a minor league pitcher to pull of such a deal. The Rangers love Highland Park lefty Clayton Kershaw, but it’s not certain the Dodgers would include a prospect of his caliber as a third player. ”
.http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/072607dnsporangteixeira.aeab0031.html
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That’s right, they wanted Loney, Ethier AND Clayton Kershaw. Delusional!!!
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Other outlets started to pick this up (including the unbearable Ken Rosenthal, who should be relegated to his proper role in life–unsuccessful used car salesman), and I was worried for a while that the Dodgers would actually do this.
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Anyway, it’s a reminder of the road, so fortunately, not taken. And even with some criticism of Ned, it’s a reminder that we avoided complete catastrophe. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was smarts, but I have to give him credit.
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And of course, credit is due to Loney, Ethier, and Kershaw (along with a bunch of our other young guys), for demonstrating that they are simply great.

I think Bobbleheads may be beneath Vin Scully’s dignity.
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I am not sure what the proper tribute to Vinny should be, but clearly there should be one. Hopefully, however, the best tribute is to just be able to listen to him for at least a few more years.

This team is so frustrating to watch. Seriously, Ned is becoming a joke. Every move he makes seems to block a ready more productive kid. Ned has been blessed with a great farm system, a huge payroll, and a great fan base and he has given us back to back(including this year) fourth place finishes. I would give him one more year and if the team isn’t considerably better next year I would be done with him. DEPO LOOKS GOOD COMPARED TO THIS GUY!!!

I am so jealous of the DBack and Rocks fans who get to see their young kids play everyday without their stupid GM blocking them with big contract over the hill veterans. Last year was NOT Grady’s fault. He HAD to play Pierre for 9 million reasons. Is it just me or does it seem like everything Ned tuches turns into a DISASTER.

I like DeWitt. He may be the answer short-term, he may be the answer long-term. He played well, but never really grabbed the position by the throat. If he had hit .310 and knocked a couple of home runs, it would be tough to sit him.
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But, short of that, you have to give Nomar a little time to see if he can play like he used to. Just like it’s silly to sit Kemp and Ethier, it makes sense to play Nomar and see where we are in a couple of weeks.

Am I the only one who just assumed that Loney would get a hit in that at-bat?
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Actually, he’s been slumping for him, and not taking the ball the other way as much. But he’ll probably start another streak tomorrow.

Sure am glad we got a moai at third instead of DeWitt. Let’s hope Joe’s just giving Nomore enough rope to hang himself. I agree with many of the rest of you – totally selfish of him to play at 70%, especially knowing that even at 100% he still can’t put up numbers any better than Blake.

And did anyone think we’d be 16 games into the season and still waiting for our $36 million CFer to hit his first home run?

I have to admit, Joe’s handled the pitching staff better than I thought he would so far. What I haven’t figured out is if he’s as ignorant in his line-ups as he appears to be, or if he’s forced to play nursemaid to a bunch of crappy and/or aged vets that Ned’s hampered him with.

I see we’re not far from Brazo being added as the 12th pitcher, and they’re talking about sending DeWitt down to make room.

Are these really baseball people making these decisions? How is Hu going to back-up both stonehenge infielders at the same time, especially if you hold back DY as a PH? That means no defensive sub for either Nomore or Kent. The logical choice to go would be Sweeney who can’t play 2nd or 3rd and who evidently can’t PH either judging by his [non]success rate.

When LaRoche is ready to come back then, I’d try and find a home for Nomore, who might as well be wearing two catcher’s mitts at 3B. Unfortunately, there probably won’t be any takers for a hugely declining vet who’s awful in the field, plays whether he’s healthy or not, AND has a fat undesireable contract even for a few months worth. (Note to Nomar: don’t expect another big contract from anyone at the end of this season.)

Deadline fodder: Kent, Nomore, Pierre, Lowe, Loaiza. Get what you can in prospects Ned. Should be able to get a fair package for Lowe.

This team right now playing declining vets and dubious FAs takes 4th easily. Start dumping the excess baggage at the trade deadline and letting the kids develop unimpeded and we compete with SD/Rox for third, with a strong chance of vast improvement in 2009, and maybe a winner in 2010. Blocking better players by playing lesser ones and not letting the kids develop to their potential year after year isn’t a strategy, its a disaster, and another 20 years of nothing.

It seems that everytime the Dodgers start a big rally in the first inning, and don’t come through by scoring any runs. It sets the tone for the kind of day the team will have. In this game they had bases loaded with one out, and fail to score any runs. Which was the same story through out the game.
They had a hard time trying to score runs.
If seen this happen many times.
Well there goes one more game.
I hate to see us in the bottom of the standings.
hope to get a win today.
Go Blue!!

All good points, enchanted, and it shows how much this management is out of sync with what it takes to build a successful ballclub. When you have to put Andruw, Nomore, and the pitcher’s spot all in a row, you know you won’t scare any pitchers. The season is being ruined by keeping Nomore in the lineup and by juggling the four outfielders. If Torre needs to give Pierre playing time, at this point it should be at the expense of Andruw. Just because he’s paid $18 million doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have to win his playing time back if he can straighten out and slim down.

It’s to the point that you can’t trust anybody in Dodgers management. They’re all spinners, no doubt taking the lead from that public relations guy Colletti. Can’t even get the bobblehead thing straight. I don’t really care who deserves and gets a bobblehead, but if you’re going to give the online fans the vote, then be prepared for the unexpected and by all means honor it. It sounds like someone decided they wanted to give it to Penny and already committed that way, but didn’t count on what an online campaign could do to unsettle those plans. Then they try to cover their a** and make it two bobblehead nights. Their credibility is now totally shot, and I hope when Colletti goes, they clean house and get rid of all the dumb yahoos, who probably couldn’t hold a real job in the real world.

Jones is killing us offensively. Not only because of his low average, but because of his K rate and poor ABs. If this keeps up he will be lowered to Pierre status. I don’t get why the D’s beat up on the NL central teams but get their butts kicked by the NL east teams. Sighhhh, I hope KEMP is in the lineup tomorrow and the bats wake up…

I hate to be critical of one of my namesakes, but Martin was a little impatient at the plate in the first inning and maybe cost us a run or more.
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With a 2-0 count and the bases loaded, I just think he should have waited to take a strike. As it was he drove a hittable, but not superjuicy, pitch about 320 feet down the left field line.
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Of course if the ball had gone another 15 or 20 feet it would have been a grand slam and I wouldn’t be writing this.
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I wonder why he chose to swing at that pitch. Did it look like a nice fat pitch? With the slumping Andruw up next, did he lack faith in the guys behind him in the lineup?
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Whatever the reason, in the first inning in that situation, he really should have been taking.

When that sad day comes that Vin Scully announces his retirement, there should not be a Vin Scully Day. One day will not be nearly enough to accomodate all the people who will want to give thanks to Vinny. It should be a Vin Scully Weekend.
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As for a giveaway, it should be something that represents Vinny’s voice. Although he’s a good-looking guy, it’s his voice we love. Maybe a CD with his some of his greatest calls. Maybe even a story or two. If it’s a bobblehead, it should be able to talk.

I don’t think anyone will mind who’s bobblehead they get as long as they get one!! lol.. but then again soem will be sad that there vote for their favorite palyer didn’t get in, but there is always next season!!

Tony Jackson has posted the same lineup for today as yesterday, except that Ethier bats second and Kemp third. Torre obviously will ride with Nomore until we’re solidly in fourth place to stay, and that won’t take long.
Fire the gd Colletti!!!

I remember a Sunday game with Joe Ferguson about to come to the plate. On the old message board came the announcement that Joe’s wife had just given birth to their daughter. Through his entire at-bat, Vin was blending the game with Joe telling his daughter sometime in the future about that moment. Paraphrasing from memory:

“As I walked into the box, I was thinking about how much I love your mother and how much we have been looking forward to bringing you home as the pitcher (forgot the name) throws ball one……..”

The entire at-bat went like that. If I remember correctly, it was rather anti-climactic as he ended up walking, but it was riviting and of course, all spur-of-the-moment. I was at a driving range in El Monte and they had the game piped into the sound system there. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and the range was full, but during this at-bat, everyone had stopped hitting golf balls and was listening. I will never forget it.

This is a late entry.
I suggest that the Dodgers fly-out Troy from West Virginia, so he can throw out the first pitch, on Joe Beimel bobblehead night.
Joe could catch, and they could show “The Legend of Joe Beimel,” on the Diamondvision.
This would be a big hit with the fans, and of course with Troy.

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